Without a Trace: Spade's Crusade
by Caitlin-Todd
Summary: While at the mall on her day off from work, Samantha is witness to a kidnapping. Consumed with guilt and anger, Samantha promise herself not to rest until she finds the girl. J/S.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hey there! So the time has come for me to finally upload my very first WaT fan fiction. I've been a J/S shipper since Season 1 so this story is going to have some pretty obvious J/S moments later on. And this story was suppose to be posted sometime in December before Christmas Eve but I got major writer's block so hence why I'm posting it now about 1 month later. Now, I have to warn you: English is only my second language so you might find some grammar errors. For that I'm sorry but I don't really have the time to double-check every chapter anymore. Just enjoy the story now and leave a little comment on your way out!

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It was the week before Christmas. The mall was filled with people doing their last minute shopping. Danielle Stevens was one of those people. She had taken the day off from work to spend some quality time with her five-year old daughter, Rosie.

"Sweetie, if you don't finish that there won't be any dessert" Danielle said with a teasing smile as she watched her daughter nibble on her hot dog.

"Mummy! You promised me chocolate chip cookies!" Rosie wailed and Danielle laughed, putting down the shopping bags on the ground next to the bench.

"And you promised me to be a big girl and finish that hot dog. Now, I've already bought the cookies and I guess somebody has to eat them before they go bad. You think you'll be able to do that?" Danielle asked and Rosie nodded with an excited smile on her face. Danielle couldn't help but laugh again. She took the half-eaten hot dog and reached for the trash bin, which was located right next to the bench.

"Where's the cookies, mummy?" Rosie asked with excitement in her voice, hardly being able to sit still while waiting for the dessert. Danielle started digging through one of the shopping bags and pulled out a package of chocolate chip cookies.

"Since you didn't finish your hot dog, you will only get one cookie now. You can have the others after dinner when we get home, okay?" Danielle asked, holding up one cookie and Rosie nodded politely.

"And I promise to share them with grandma!" Rosie said and Danielle handed over the cookie. Rosie's face light up as she took the first bite of the delicious cookie. Danielle leaned back and watched her daughter consume the chocolate chip cookie in only a matter of seconds.

"Now, what do you say we head over the toy store and take a look at that doll you wanted?" Danielle asked while gathering the shopping bags. Rosie licked her fingers clean of any chocolate and nodded quickly. Danielle got up from the bench with shopping bags in both hands, gesturing for Rosie to come with. Rosie slipped down from the bench, her teddy bear in one hand, and ran towards her mother. Then suddenly she bumped into someone, dropping her teddy bear in the process.

"Teddy!" Rosie cried out and Danielle quickly turned around, noticing the teddy bear lying on the ground. The woman Rosie had bumped into bent down and picked up the teddy bear. She then turned around and slowly walked over to Rosie.

"So sorry about that! She doesn't always look where's she's going" Danielle said with a nervous smile. The woman smiled back and then looked down at Rosie, who kept her eyes firmly on her teddy bear.

"Can I have Teddy back now, please?" she asked politely and the woman's smile grew wider. She bent down and slowly handed over the teddy bear. Rosie quickly grabbed it and wrapped her arms around it in a tight hug, before glancing over at the woman and giving her a shy smile.

"Thank you. My name is Rosie Stevens. What's yours?" Rosie asked.

"Samantha Spade."

"You're pretty. Do you have any babies?" Rosie asked and Danielle quickly cleared her throat, covering Rosie's mouth with her hand for a brief moment.

"You'll have to excuse her, she's very noisy. Always asking questions!" she said. Samantha smiled at Danielle as she got back up, and then glanced down at Rosie.

"It's okay. I was the same at her age. The only way to find out anything, right?" Samantha said and Danielle nodded with a smile, removing her hand from Rosie's mouth. The little girl looked up at Samantha while still hugging her teddy bear.

"Are you here with your mummy?" Rosie asked and Samantha smiled at her, slowly shaking her head.

"She lives far away from here you see, so she couldn't come. Besides, I'm a big girl so I'm here by myself" Samantha said. Rosie was just about to say something, when Danielle quickly cleared her throat and grabbed Rosie's hand.

"I think we better get going now. And I'm sure you got somewhere to be as well. Thanks for saving Teddy, Samantha" Danielle said and Rosie nodded quickly with a big smile on her face.

"Anytime. Now, Rosie, you must promise me to hang onto Teddy real tight. The mall is a scary place for a little teddy bear" Samantha said, doing her best to withhold a smile. Rosie nodded slowly with a serious look on her face now.

"I promise. Thank you, Samantha Spade. Bye!" she said and waved at Samantha before walking away in the opposite direction. Samantha smiled to herself as she watched Danielle and Rosie disappear into the crowd.

"Bye…" she whispered to herself and started walking towards the escalators. She looked down at her watch, letting out a heavy sigh. In less than twenty-four hours she had to be back at the office again, and truth be told she could hardly wait. Christmas wasn't exactly her favorite holiday and keeping herself busy with work always worked every year. Although this year they had been given seven days longer vacation, which Samantha hadn't been too pleased to hear about.

As she stepped off the escalator on the main floor, a scream echoed through the three-storage mall. Samantha quickly looked over at the main entrance and wasn't sure at first what she was seeing. But then she realized that it really was Rosie, being pulled out the main entrance by a man. Rosie was screaming and trying to wriggle out of the man's grip but it was impossible. Samantha looked around, trying to locate Danielle but there were too many people in the way. Then as Rosie screamed again, Samantha's instincts set in motion. She started running towards the entrance, catching a glimpse of the man's face as he exited the mall. Samantha pushed past several people before finally reaching the entrance, rushing right out into the street. The parking lot was packed with cars and at first she couldn't see or hear anything. But then she could hear Rosie scream again and as Samantha looked down the street, she saw a black SUV with tinted windows coming her way. The driver was stepping on the gas and Samantha automatically reached for her gun, before realizing she wasn't carrying it with her. As the car kept coming towards her, Samantha desperately tried to think of some way to stop it. She looked at the car's plates, memorizing the numbers, before quickly jumping aside as the car swept past her and exited the parking lot with screeching tires. Samantha stood on the sidewalk; catching her breath and looking over at the fresh tire marks. It had happened right under her nose. An innocent little girl had just been kidnapped right in front of her and Samantha had done absolutely nothing to prevent it. And now a scared Rosie was out there with some sick stranger. God knows what could happen.

* * *

**1 Hour Missing**

As he entered the mall, Jack Malone looked around searching for Samantha. He finally spotted her over by the paramedics, who were attending Danielle Stevens' head wound. Samantha was sitting next to Danielle on the bench, trying to calm her down. Which wasn't going very well, and Jack couldn't really decide which of the women looked more devastated. He hesitated for a moment before slowly walking over to them. Samantha suddenly took her eyes off of Danielle and noticed Jack coming towards her. She quickly got on her feet and walked over to meet him.

"Did you manage to get anything on the car?" she blurted out.

"Turns out the plates are fake, so we're still working on that. I got Danny and Martin doing some background checks on the mother. Elena is outside interviewing some potential eye witnesses" Jack said and Samantha nodded slowly, rubbing her temples. Memorizing the car's plates was the only thing she had been able to do, and even that turned out to be a dead end.

"So basically, we got absolutely nothing? No clues as to who the kidnapper is or where he's at?" she asked and Jack watched as she was becoming more frantic.

"Not yet. So why don't you fill me a bit more on what happened? Did you get a good look at the guy?" Jack asked and Samantha let out a heavy sigh, collecting her thoughts for a moment.

"I guess so. It all happened so fast and my attention was focused on Rosie, not him" she said and Jack glanced over at Danielle.

"And where was the mother?" he asked, looking over at Samantha.

"She was knocked unconscious. Apparently the guy came up from behind so she never got a look at him" Samantha said, glancing over her shoulder.

"So it sounds like you're the only one who actually saw him" Jack said and Samantha quickly looked over at him.

"A lot of good that did Rosie" she said and sighed.

"It's only been an hour, Sam. Don't lose all hope just yet" Jack said.

"I'm not. It's just that…it's been a very long day, that's all" Samantha said with a tired smile. She glanced over Jack's shoulder and suddenly noticed that Elena was heading over to them.

"Hey. Okay, so according to the people outside, they didn't see anything. They heard the girl scream and saw the SUV bolting out of the parking lot, but that's about it. Apparently nobody took any notice of the guy when he exited the mall" Elena said, looking down at her notepad. Samantha started to feel the frustration building up inside. So far _she_ was their eyewitness and she didn't remember much at all.

"Great. Thousands of people around and _nobody_ saw anything!" Samantha muttered and Jack exchanged looks with Elena.

"How about we head back to the office and you can meet with one of the sketch artists?" Jack said, hinting for Samantha to come with him but she hesitated.

"Can't that wait? I mean, somebody has to stay with Danielle and take her statement. Besides, there's still plenty of people to interview inside" she said, looking over at the crowd of people standing behind the yellow tape.

"Elena can do that. And I'll make sure Vivian gets going on the interviews as soon as she gets back" Jack said and Elena walked past Samantha, over to Danielle who was now relatively calm considering the circumstances. Samantha looked over at the woman, feeling the guilt coming on again. Suddenly she felt Jack's arm around her waist, and she snapped out of her daze.

"Let's go" Jack said and Samantha hesitantly started walking towards the main entrance with him. Everything was in a blur; it was as if she couldn't decide if the kidnapping had been real or just a dream. It all was too unreal to be true. And yet she couldn't get the picture of Rosie out of her head, no matter how hard she tried.

* * *

When arriving at F.B.I headquarters, Samantha started to have second thoughts about seeing a sketch artist. But as she entered Jack's office, she noticed one of the sketch artists already being present. Which meant there was no turning back now.

"You go ahead and get started. I'll be right back" Jack said and patted Samantha on the shoulder before disappearing out the door. Samantha watched as he walked over to Danny and Martin, checking up on them. For once she wanted to be out there instead and not locked up in his office, talking to some sketch artist. She let out a heavy sigh and silently walked over to the couch, slowly taking a seat.

"So…you ready to get started?"

Samantha stared at the guy, doing her best to remember something about the kidnapper's face. But all that kept popping her head was the image of Rosie being pulled outside, screaming for her life. The sound of a heart beating so fast it was going explode echoed inside Samantha's head. Blurry images of the kidnapper's face flashed before her eyes, but nothing that really stuck. The only thing she could remember was that he was wearing black clothes and somehow managed to cover up at least half of his face. All kinds of sounds from the mall came back to her and suddenly she couldn't take it anymore.

"I'm sorry. I don't…I don't remember what he looks like. It all happened so fast and he…he was covering his face with the girl" Samantha stuttered and the sketch artist slowly nodded. Without another word he got up and silently exited the office. Samantha clenched her fists together, trying to sort out her thoughts. All the sounds were gone now and she could no longer hear Rosie's screams. But that didn't mean that the guilt was gone. Samantha realized that she didn't have the patience to stay put; she quickly pushed the glass door open and walked over to the others.

"What do we got?" she blurted out, staring at Danny and Martin.

"Well the mother's got nothing to do with it. We're still trying to locate the girl's father" Martin said and Samantha stared at them without saying anything.

"Sam, can I have a word with you?" Jack suddenly asked as he walked past her. Samantha reluctantly followed him until they were out of hearing range.

"Jack, I really think I should get some work done instead of just standing by the sideline!" Samantha said, starting to become frantic again. Jack could tell that this case was already getting to her and it had only been a little over one hour.

"I don't think that's such a good idea. Sam, you are way too attached to this girl" Jack said in a low voice, maintaining eye contact the whole time. Samantha stared back at him, calming herself down. Deep down she knew that her behavior was irrational but the shock hadn't worn off yet. And until it had, she for sure wasn't going anywhere the investigation.

"Jack, please, I have to do this. That girl is missing because I didn't do a better job of stopping the kidnapper. Look, I might not remember what he looks like but I'll be damned if he's going to get away with this!" Samantha snapped, trying to calm herself down. She knew she wouldn't be going anywhere near the investigation until she had and Jack wouldn't be able to trust her otherwise.

"You know what happens if you get too involved" Jack said and Samantha sighed.

"Yeah I know. And I won't let it go that far, trust me. Come on, Jack, you can't take me off this case" she said, almost whispering the last sentence. Jack was silent at first, just staring at her. Samantha stared back at him, refusing to back down this time. Normally she would carry out Jack's orders without any problems but not now.

"Fine" Jack finally said and Samantha gave him a grateful smile, before walking over to Danny and Martin again. Jack watched as she grilled them on information, hoping that he had made the right decision after all. This case was going to be demanding for everyone and it was obvious that Samantha wouldn't rest until they had caught the kidnapper. Jack just hoped that she knew the odds of finding Rosie still alive.

**To Be Continued. . . .  
**

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**NOTE: Don't worry; I'll make sure next chapter is longer. But since I'm having trouble with this story a beta wouldbe good. Let me know if you're interested.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Hello again! Wow, I just gotta say that I'm so damn happy about the reviews the last chapter got! To me that's a new personal record. And it makes me so happy to see that people are enjoying this story. Besides, this place could really need some more J/S stories, don't ya think?  
Anyways, I have my new (and first) beta, **Diane**,to thank for making this chapter flawless when it comes to spelling errors. When it comes to the English language she's the expert! So...here it comes: Chapter 2!

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4 Hours Missing

"Danielle, hi. I can only imagine how difficult this must be for you, but it's good that you came in. Unfortunately I'm going to have to ask you some pretty hard questions, but I want you to know that they are necessary to our investigation," Samantha explained as Danielle took a seat. Instead of doing the interview out in the bullpen, Samantha had managed to borrow Jack's office to get some more privacy.

"Ask any questions you need; I just want my little girl back," Danielle whispered, trying to hold back the tears. Samantha stared at her for a moment in silence, feeling the guilt building up again.

"Right. Okay…so I see that Rosie's father died when she was a baby. Has there been any other man in the picture since then? Doesn't necessary need to be a serious boyfriend; maybe just someone you dated for a short period of time," Samantha said and looked over at Danielle while opening up her notepad.

"Noah Wilkins. We dated for a couple of weeks about…three years ago. But last thing I heard he was married with a little baby boy. And he would never do such a thing; he loved Rosie like she was his own," Danielle said, quickly wiping away a tear.

"So why did you two break up?" Samantha asked while writing down Noah Wilkins' name, as well as the other useful information.

"Guess it wasn't meant to be. Some things just aren't, you know," Danielle said and Samantha nodded slowly, taking her eyes off of the notepad.

"Yeah. So, let's talk about enemies. Anybody you can think of that might have a grudge against you?" Samantha asked and Danielle contemplated this for a moment.

"I don't think so. At least nothing major that's for sure," she said.

"Well you can never really be too sure. Have you dealt with any disgruntled parents lately? Being a teacher and everything, you must meet quite a few of them?" Samantha asked and Danielle nodded slowly.

"Sure, but my students are second-graders. Whenever the parents happen to be 'disgruntled' it's because I give the children too much homework sometimes. Look, I honestly don't believe that someone close to me did this," Danielle said and the tears started welling up again. Samantha glanced down at her notepad, looking over the already written down information.

"And you didn't noticed anybody suspicious at the mall? Somebody who may have looked at you or Rosie differently?" she suddenly asked without looking at Danielle.

"No, I didn't. But then there were so many people there," Danielle whispered and now the tears were rolling down her cheeks. Samantha reached over and handed her a tissue, praying that she herself wouldn't start crying.

"Would you excuse me for a moment?" she asked and Danielle nodded while wiping away the tears. Samantha grabbed her notepad and walked out of the office, over to the bullpen. Elena had just arrived back from the mall and was doing background checks on the people she had questioned. Danny and Martin seemed to be doing the same thing, but Samantha noticed that Jack and Vivian weren't present.

"Where's Jack?" she asked and glanced around the bullpen.

"He mentioned something about going back to the mall. I think he's checking on Viv," Danny said without turning around. Elena suddenly stopped typing for a moment and quickly turned around on her chair.

"What's up?" she asked curiously and Samantha looked over at her, hesitating for a minute. She really wanted to share the newfound information with Jack first, but since he was gone there wasn't much she could do about that.

"Apparently Danielle dated a man named Noah Wilkins about tree years ago. I'm going to head over and meet with him…as soon as I've got his address," Samantha said and walked over to her desk. Elena watched her for a moment in silence before slowly making her way over to Samantha's desk.

"Mind if I tag along? I'm sure the boys can handle doing background checks on their own," Elena said and glanced over at Danny and Martin with a teasing smile. They simultaneously turned around and looked over at Elena.

"How thoughtful of you," Danny said sarcastically and Elena stared at him for a moment before turning her attention back to Samantha. She was so busy typing that she didn't take notice to answer Elena at first. Then a few seconds later when she got a hit on Noah Wilkins, she looked up at Elena.

"Let's go then!" Samantha said and grabbed her coat off the chair. Elena rushed over to her desk and quickly grabbed her own coat. As they walked past Jack's office, Samantha suddenly came to an abrupt halt. She hesitated for a moment before walking back to Danny and Martin. They turned around as they saw her coming.

"Uhm, Danielle Stevens is waiting in Jack's office. I would really appreciate it if one of you guys could check up on her every once in a while," Samantha said.

"Sure. Consider it done," Martin said and Samantha smiled at him, nodding.

"Thanks. I…_we_ should be back soon enough," she said and slowly backed away before quickly walking over to Elena again. On their way towards the elevator, Elena glanced at Samantha, unsure if she should say something or not. In the end, she decided to keep quiet for the time being. She couldn't imagine being in Samantha's position; she didn't want to imagine it. It was clear to everyone that Samantha wasn't okay, even if she tried to make it look like she was.

* * *

Noah Wilkins lived out in suburbia with the white picket fences and the mini van parked in the driveway. Samantha couldn't help but feel cynical as she and Elena got out of the car. She looked at the white façade house and let out a heavy sigh.

"You want me to do the talking?" Elena suddenly asked.

"No, it's alright. I'm fine," Samantha said, trying not to sound annoyed. But the more time that passed her by, the more she realized everybody seemed to be walking on eggshells around her. It was as if they were all just waiting for her to break down.

"Okay," Elena said and Samantha slowly opened up the gate, her eyes focused on the red front door. A part of her knew that Noah Wilkins most likely wasn't the kidnapper but she knew she had to follow every lead she got. When they reached the door, Samantha felt a moment of hesitation coming on but quickly dismissed it.

"You okay?" Elena asked with a concerned look and Samantha nodded.

"I told you; I'm _fine_," she said, avoiding Elena's stare and started knocking on the door. They slowly took a step back as they heard footsteps approaching. A young woman with a baby on her hip opened up the door, staring at Samantha and Elena.

"Mrs. Wilkins? I'm Special Agent Spade and this is Special Agent Delgado. We're with the FBI," Samantha said, flashing her I.D. and hinting at Elena.

"Uhm, no. I'm Cassie. Her sister. Charlotte is inside."

"Mind if we come in? There's a couple of questions we need to ask your sister," Samantha said and Cassie gave her nod before walking down the hallway. Samantha was quick to follow, completely forgetting about Elena at the moment. As they entered the living room, Cassie took a seat on the couch next to her sister. Charlotte stared at Samantha and Elena, quickly turning off the TV.

"Can I help you?" she asked, slowly taking the baby from Cassie.

"That's what we're hoping. I'm Special Agent Spade and this is Special Agent Delgado. We have a few questions we need to ask you, Mrs. Wilkins. Did your husband used to date a Danielle Stevens?" Samantha asked.

"Yeah. Noah and Danielle were going out when I first met him. Apparently things weren't working out for them, and so like the next month we were on our first date. Why do you wanna know?" Charlotte asked. Samantha and Elena exchanged looks.

"Danielle Stevens' daughter is missing. She was kidnapped earlier this morning. Apparently your husband was quite close to Danielle Stevens and her daughter, and that's why we would like to talk to him," Samantha said after a while.

"Why do you assume that Noah knows anything about the kidnapping?" Charlotte asked and the baby slowly started crying. She sighed and handed over the baby to Cassie before getting off of the couch, walking over to Samantha and Elena.

"Mrs. Wilkins, we only want to ask your husband a few questions. That doesn't mean that we think he's involved in this," Samantha said and Charlotte sighed.

"Then why come here looking for him? Noah hasn't seen or heard from Danielle in over two years so what do you expect him to tell you, Special Agent Spade?" Charlotte asked, starting to become irritated.

"It's just standard procedure, Mrs. Wilkins. We need to question everyone that has had any contact with Danielle Stevens and her daughter. And considering your husband's past with them, I'd say he could maybe tell us some useful information. So, Mrs. Wilkins, where is your husband?" Samantha asked, trying to remain calm. This certainly wasn't the time to withhold answers but Samantha knew that she had to be extra careful, especially since she was being watched. Something she definitely was going to take up with Jack later on when the time was right.

"On a business trip in L.A. I can give you the hotel's phone number if you'd like," Charlotte said sarcastically but Samantha decided to ignore the tone in her voice.

"Mrs. Wilkins, how long has your husband been in L.A.?" Elena asked and Samantha gave her a glance, not too pleased about the sudden interference.

"For about five days now. So…you still want the phone number?" Charlotte asked and looked straight at Samantha. Elena started to get really annoyed by now, but Samantha managed to keep a straight face.

"No, that won't be necessary. I think we're done here. Thank you for your help, Mrs. Wilkins. We can see ourselves out," she said and exited the room with no further adieu. Elena looked over at Charlotte, reluctantly biting her tongue and heading after Samantha. As they walked out the front door, Elena thought about voicing her opinion. But Samantha beat her to it.

"I know you might think I didn't handle things back there, but that doesn't give you the right to interrupt like that. Do that again and I won't be as nice, got it?" Samantha asked and gave Elena an evil glare. Elena didn't know how to respond at first; Samantha had never acted like that before. The case was really getting to her in ways it shouldn't be allowed. But Elena decided not to comment on that.

"Got it," she said, holding back a sigh. Samantha got in behind the wheels, taking a moment to clear her mind before starting the car. Elena got into the car and quickly closed the door, glancing over at Samantha. She would keep quiet for now but if things got worse, Elena couldn't stay quiet anymore. Even if it meant falling out with Samantha: solving the case was more important.

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**  
To Be Continued...**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **_It's been over a year since I last updated this story and that's partly because I lost interest and inspiration, which is not unusual when it comes to writing. But every time I visited and read all the reviews, I kept getting this tingling feeling inside. Eventually, that feeling turned into inspiration and excitement. Over the past 2-3 weeks I've made it my mission to finally complete this story once & for all! So far I've written little over ten pages and although the story hasn't turned out exactly as I thought from the beginning, I'm still so freakin' happy knowing I'm able to upload new chapters again! Hopefully you guys will enjoy these upcoming chapters and yes, a part of me hopes for a bunch of lovely reviews like before. Anyways, here you have it: Chapter 3 of **Spade's Crusade**!_

* * *

"Anything?" Jack asked as he walked up to Danny and Martin, who were still glued to the computers. They both shook their heads and took their eyes off of the screens.

"Nope. So far everybody at that mall checks out. How's Vivian doing?" Martin asked and Jack couldn't help but smile.

"Last time I heard she was cursing malls all across America. I'm guessing people aren't being too cooperative in spite of everything that has happened," he said.

"People who have a hard time cooperating usually have something to hide," Danny said and Martin slowly nodded along.

"Which means more suspects and I doubt we have the time to check everyone out," Jack said and sighed heavily.

"Well hopefully we'll get a hit soon enough. Although from the look of things, it may take a while. Probably a good thing I sent Ms. Stevens home after all," Martin said.

"Yeah probably. Oh, and I just checked with Samantha. She and Elena couldn't get anything useful out of Mrs. Wilkins. Other than that Mr. Wilkins has been out of town for the past five days, which excludes him from the suspect's list," Jack said.

"So we're pretty much back to square one again," Danny said with a heavy sigh at the thought of spending more hours glued to the computer.

"Looks like it. Want me to get you guys some coffee?" Jack asked and glanced at thescattering of empty coffee cups. Danny and Martin exchanged looks, before glancing over at their boss again. But before they had the chance to reply, Jack's cell phone started ringing. He glanced down at the caller I.D. before flipping the phone open.

"Malone. Really? Okay. No, bring her in. It's all we got to go on for now. Yeah, okay."  
Jack finished the call and hung up with a relieved look on his face.

"We just got lucky. Looks like someone actually saw the kidnapper as he entered the mall. Viv is bringing her in to meet with the sketch artist. Hopefully we'll be able to get a decent enough sketch," Jack said and a pleased grin spread across Danny's face. Not only did this benefit their investigation but it also meant that he and Martin could actually take a real break for once from all the computer work.

"So, you two amuse yourselves until Viv gets here, okay? I have a phone call to make," Jack said with an amused smile and headed back to his office again.

* * *

Samantha was more than happy to hear about the news; she was no longer the only one who had gotten a good look at the kidnapper. A part of her was relieved of all the stress that had been building up before, but she was still on edge. The guilt was still there, getting worse by the minute.

"Look, I hate to be a pain in the ass but…are you sure you're okay?" Elena suddenly asked and Samantha snapped out of her daze, quickly glancing over at Elena.

"As okay as can be expected due to the circumstances I guess," Samantha said and let on a smile, even though she felt like a complete mess inside. Still, she didn't want Elena to suffer because she was having a hard time with the case.

"I didn't mean to upset you back there. It's just that…well, I guess I have a hard time being just an observer," Elena said.

"Oh, I know that feeling. But it gets easier with time, trust me," Samantha said and stopped at a red light. She started biting her lower lip nervously, glancing out the window at the traffic light.

"You wanna talk about it?" Elena asked, not able to control herself anymore. It was clear to her that Samantha was far from okay and she couldn't just ignore it.

"Talk about what?" Samantha asked and gave Elena a confused look.

"About the case. About Rosie," Elena said hesitantly, knowing she might be in over her head now. She had never had a problem with Samantha before and was hoping that this wouldn't cause a gap between them.

"No, not really," Samantha said nonchalantly, looking over at the traffic light again.

"Sometimes it helps to talk about stuff you don't really wanna talk about," Elena said and Samantha suddenly stepped on the gas as the light turned green.

"Yeah, well, not this time," she snapped and Elena sighed, realizing that it was time to give up. Instead she looked out the window, watching all the people doing their last minute Christmas shopping. She then glanced down at the moist asphalt that was free of any snow so far. It all went by in a hazy blur, as Samantha was driving faster than usual. And that was because she could hardly wait until they arrived at headquarters. Especially since Elena didn't seem to let go; and she would probably keep asking questions until Samantha gave her the answer she was looking for.

* * *

There was a quick knock on the glass door and as Jack looked up, Samantha silently stepped into the office. She did her best to keep up a brave smile, but wasn't doing a very good job, and especially not since Jack could practically read her like an open book. The silence between them seemed to fill up the entire room and after a while Jack gave Samantha an inquiring look, waiting for her to say something.

"Do you trust me?" Samantha blurted out.

"What makes you ask that?" Jack asked and closed the folder he had been reading. Samantha hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath to calm herself down.

"Well it's just that everybody seems to be tiptoeing around me. And I get the feeling that you have something to do with it. Look, Jack, I'm not going to deny that I have a problem with this case. But that doesn't mean that I'm any less capable of doing my job than the others," she said and Jack slowly got out of his chair.

"I know that, or else I wouldn't let you stay on it," he said.

"Really? Because from where I'm standing it looks like you've got agents following me around and watching my every move! How am I suppose to do my job if I'm being watched by my own co-workers?" Samantha said and she know that she was getting worked up, inches away from crossing the line and that would definitely get her transferred to another case. But every time she allowed herself to think about little Rosie, all her reasoning went out the window along with her temper.

Jack suddenly got out of his chair and walked over to Samantha, well aware that their conversation were starting to attract an audience.

"Sit down," he said and sat down on the couch himself. Samantha stared at him without showing any indication of moving towards the couch. Jack stared up at her with an intense look in his eyes, impatiently waiting for her to sit down.

"It wasn't a suggestion. _Sit_ down," he said firmly, clearly annoyed at this point. Samantha reluctantly took a seat on the other end of the couch and remained silent.

"Now I can understand why you feel responsible for Rosie Stevens' disappearance, believe me. I've been there. I know how it eats you up on the inside and that feeling of helplessness is only making things worse. But you need to stay calm and work this case as any other case without letting emotions getting in the way. I took a risk allowing you to remain on the case despite your attachment to Rosie Stevens because I trust you to do your job and you know how I hate to be proven wrong," Jack said with a tiny smile at the end and Samantha sighed.

"It's just that…I can't get her face out of my mind. I can still hear the screaming but that look on her face…that's the worse part. What if we don't find her, Jack? What if we do find her but it's too late? What am I suppose to tell Danielle? That she can't have her little girl back just because I wasn't doing my job?" she said and stared at Jack with an almost desperate look in her eyes.

"You did do your job, Samantha. It's because of you that Rosie has a fighting chance of making it home to her mom. No one could ever predict what would happen at the mall but you have the opportunity to make it right by finding Rosie," Jack said and Samantha slowly nodded, but she didn't seem very convinced.

"I should get back out there. Can't have the guys get all the glory for doing the dirty work," she said with a tired smile and got off the couch. As she exited the office, Jack remained seated on the couch for a while. He himself had also wondered several times already if they were going to find Rosie alive. If they didn't, he wasn't sure of the consequences it would have on Samantha.

* * *

**6 Hours Missing**

While Jack was briefing the team on the latest newfound information in the case, Samantha kept her focus on the sketch of their primary suspect. The more she kept staring at it, the more frustrated she got. Blurry flashbacks of the suspect went by in her mind but she wasn't able to connect them to the detailed sketch. Despite this, a part of her was relieved over the fact that they finally had a face to go with the kidnapper. And so far there was nothing indicating that the kidnapper was someone that either Danielle or Rosie knew, making the kidnapping appear to be random.

"Sam?"

Samantha abruptly looked up from the sketch and at Jack, realizing that everyone else at the table was staring back at her. She nervously cleared her throat and managed to put on a little smile just for show.

"Sorry. So, what's the assignment?" she asked.

"Locating the suspect. With a little luck, he's hopefully already in the system. Right now that's all we _can_ do seeing as how there wasn't any useful clues left at the mall," Jack explained and Samantha slowly nodded before heading over to her desk. Jack reluctantly headed back to his office, telling himself that what Samantha really needed was to work the case even though it was obviously painful. But Jack knew that taking her off the case would cause more damage than letting her stay on it.

Samantha sat down in front of her computer and started typing away on the keyboard within seconds. She was definitely feeling exhausted at this point but managed to overcome that when she reminded herself of scared little Rosie. Now that they finally had a real clue in the case and things was starting to look up, Samantha refused to waste away hours of sleep instead of locating the kidnapper.

"Hey, Sam, take a look at this," Vivian suddenly said and Samantha got out of her chair and walked a few steps over to Vivian's desk.

"What you'd got?" she asked and leaned in to take a closer look at the screen.

"Jackpot; name and rap sheet. Meet Vince Lamar: convicted of armed robbery, suspect of second-degree manslaughter and…kidnapping," Vivian said as she read the NYPD file and looked up at Samantha.

"Kidnapping?" Samantha echoed and continued reading the details on the case. She suddenly got a very nauseating feeling in her stomach when she read what the outcome was; the kidnapped girl was still missing. The case was over five years old and the little girl, who was four at the time, still hadn't been found.

"Please tell me we've got an address on this bastard," Samantha said, managing somehow to remain calm even though she felt like punching someone.

"We do. His current address is 132 Powell Street," Vivian said as the results popped up on the computer screen. Samantha felt a mixture of anger and relief once she saw the address, praying that it wasn't too late.

"I'll drive," she said determinately and quickly grabbed her coat.

"I'll tell Jack," Vivian mumbled and started walking towards Jack's office.

* * *

When Samantha pulled up the car across the street from Vince Lamar's rundown house, she noticed the two police officers outside on the porch. Judging by the look on their faces she got the distinct feeling that Vince Lamar wasn't home.

"You don't have to go inside if you don't want to," Jack suddenly said and Samantha turned her attention to him instead of the police officers.

"That's okay. I want to," she said and got out of the car before Jack had the chance to say anything else. Samantha walked up to the police officers with a stern look on her face, showing them her batch instead of doing the friendly introduction.

"There's no sign of Mr. Lamar or the girl inside the house. It doesn't look like he's been here for at least a few days," one of the police officers said and Samantha gave them a quick nod before stepping through the front door. As she walked through the living room the smell of rotten garbage and alcohol hit her, but she didn't slow down. She glanced around the house as she passed by the bathroom and through the kitchen, seeing nothing of interest to the investigation.

"This guy sure knows how to live," Jack said sarcastically when he entered the kitchen. Samantha turned around facing him, hands in the pockets of her coat.

"You know, you didn't have to come. I can handle this by myself," she said.

"Did I say you couldn't? I just came along for the ride, not to watch you do your job," Jack said with a casual shrug. He understood why Samantha kept up this defensive façade but he still wished that she would let it down at least around him.

"Well, there's nothing indicating that he took Rosie here," Samantha said and turned around again, glancing around the filthy kitchen.

"Probably not. But we got an APP out for him now and an Amber Alert for Rosie, so I doubt he'll get far without being noticed," Jack said.

"Well, we can always hope," Samantha said quietly and slowly walked past Jack on her way out of the kitchen. As she passed through the living room again, she prayed that Rosie at least didn't had to step a foot inside the disgusting house. But at the same time, she felt even worse knowing that Vince Lamar might long gone by now with Rosie. There really was no way of telling if she was still alive or lying dead in a ditch somewhere. Just the mere thought gave Samantha the chills and she hurried out back to the car.

* * *

**To Be Continued. . . . ASAP**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **_So, time for another update. I figured Chapter 3 might not have been the highlight of the story so I felt like uploading a new chapter already. Now, as some of you might have noticed, this story doesn't contain any heavy JS moments compared to other wonderful fan fictions. Ironically enough I try to make my fan fics appear similar to the show's storylines and that's why I'm taking the JS relationship thing slow, just not as slow as in the show hopefully. Anyways, wanted to explain that part of the story to you guys in case anybody was wanting for a big finale kiss. And who knows, it could still happen. The story still has a few chapters left before the final scene..._

**NOTE: _I noticed some minor grammar errors at the end of Chapter 3. Sorry about that. Like said before, I am a perfectionist but a damn lazy one. Hopefully you still enjoyed the chapter! _**

* * *

"Any luck with Lamar's bank records?" Elena asked as she walked over to Vivian. 

"You could say that. It appears that Vince Lamar gets anywhere between 50 000 and 100 000 dollars every few months transferred to his bank account from several different people. So far none of them shows up in the system, which makes me doubt that they're his partners in crime," Vivian said and sighed.

"Well maybe he's blackmailing them?" Elena suggested.

"I got a feeling this is something entirely different than blackmailing. What motive would he have for blackmailing this many people, who have absolutely no connection to each other except him? I think Vince Lamar might be running some sort of scam in order to earn some quick cash," Vivian said.

"So why risk going to jail for kidnapping and lose all that money? He must be saving it for something very special 'cause from what I heard his house is a real dump," Elena said and made a face.

"Could be he's spending the money on some expensive habit instead of decorating the house," Vivian said with a nonchalant shrug.

"I suppose, but there's no mentioning of drugs or alcohol abuse in his files. And if he's really running a scam then he must've been in contact with all the victims, right?" Elena said and before Vivian could answer, she quickly walked back over to her desk and sat down in front of the computer.

"What are you thinking?" Vivian asked as she turned around in her chair.

"Phone records. Vince Lamar doesn't exactly strike me as a computer geek and Jack didn't mention anything about finding a computer in Lamar's house so hopefully I'll have better luck going through his phone records," Elena explained while still typing away on her keyboard.

"Well make sure you…"

Vivian was suddenly cut off as the phone started ringing. She closed the folder containing the bank records and answered the phone.

"Agent Johnson. Really? Where? And when was this? Okay. Thanks."

Vivian quickly hung up the phone, waited a few seconds and then picked up the receiver and started dialing Jack's cell phone number. Elena abruptly stopped typing for a moment and turned around with a concerned look on her face.

"Have they found Rosie?" she asked, almost not wanting to know the answer.

"No, but a desk clerk over at a gas station in Hoboken spotted a man fitting Vince Lamar's description entering the men's room. The clerk _thought_ he noticed a small child sitting in the back seat," Vivian quickly explained to Elena right before she heard Jack's voice at the other end of the phone.

"Hey, Jack, we just got a tip that Vince Lamar was last seen at a gas station over in Hoboken just a few minutes ago. Yeah, I'll text you the directions in a minute."

As soon Vivian had hung up the phone she grabbed her cell phone and typed in the road directions in a text message before sending it over to Jack's phone.

"Do you really think that the man was Vince Lamar?" Elena suddenly asked.

"Well if he was, that would mean that Rosie is still alive. So yeah, I'd like to think that the man really was Vince Lamar. For Rosie's sake. And Sam's," Vivian said.

* * *

**7 Hours Missing**

"The car was standing right over here and the kid was sitting in the back seat, but I don't think she was awake," the clerk said as he slowly walked over to the empty parking lot in front of the rest rooms.

"But you're sure she was alive?" Jack asked with a slightly skeptical look on his face. Samantha knew that he had to ask, but it still gave her a sinking feeling in her stomach. She didn't dare to imagine that Rosie would actually be dead and at the same time, a part of her knew that she had to prepare herself for the possibility.

"Yeah. I mean, what sort of sicko would be driving around with a dead kid in the back seat? Besides, she kind of looked…peaceful. Like she was sleeping," the clerk said and Samantha glanced around the abandoned parking lot.

"Right. So you never saw him talk to the girl?" Jack asked and the clerk shook his head.

"Come to think of it, I'm not even entirely sure the kid was still in the car when the guy drove off. I mean, I wasn't looking _that_ closely but I definitely remember seeing the kid when they arrived," he said and Samantha quickly snapped out of her daze.

"Did you see him move her or touch her in any way?" she asked as she looked over at the clerk. He contemplated her question for a moment and then shook his head.

"Nope, sorry. All I know is that one minute she was there and the next I couldn't see her," he said and shrugged. Samantha suppressed a grunt and walked over towards the rest rooms.

"Uhm, that's all for now. We know where to find you in case we need you," Jack said with a quick nod at the clerk before heading over to Samantha. She leaned against the wall next to the door and sighed heavily.

"Why haven't we found her, Jack? Why is it that Vince Lamar still seems to be one step ahead even though we even have an APP out on him? This just isn't right! Danielle Stevens should be holding her daughter in her arms by now and not sitting at home, not knowing whether Rosie is dead or alive. It's not suppose to be like this," Samantha said and felt like banging her head against the cement wall. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake the feeling of frustration and guilt that had been haunting her for the past seven hours.

"Do you trust me?" Jack suddenly asked. Samantha looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face and didn't say anything at first. She didn't realize it before but despite her questionable behavior Jack had been there for her all the way, like so many other countless times over the years. She had done and said things she deeply regretted, but Jack managed to see past all that and still be there for her when she needed someone by her side. Now he was wondering if _she_ trusted _him_ and the answer was so obvious, Samantha felt incredibly stupid for even hesitating.

"Of course I do," she said.

"Well, then trust me when I say that we _are_ going to find Rosie. I sincerely believe that and so should you because no one else can do the job we do. So we are going to find her, trust me," Jack said and in that moment Samantha found it hard holding back the tears for the first time all day. And before she knew it, she had embraced Jack in a hug. At the back of her head, she knew this was technically inappropriate behavior despite their past history together but at this point she desperately needed a shoulder to lean on.

Samantha closed her eyes for a moment and tried to forget about everything else, except the familiar smell of Jack's coat. Jack himself was slightly surprised at Samantha's impulsive gesture but at the same time it felt good having her so close again after everything they had been through. He also knew that after such a horrid day, she needed a little bit of comfort after holding back her emotions all day. So without saying a word, he slowly put his arms around her. Samantha opened up her eyes and reluctantly realized that they had to get back to work. She slowly broke off the hug and quickly wiped away a tear, smiling nervously.

"Sorry about that. Moment of weakness I guess," she said and started walking back to the car. She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn't notice it at first. Then as she came to an abrupt halt, she told herself that she was most definitely hallucinating. But as she continued to stare at it from a distance, Samantha realized that it wasn't a hallucination; it really was Rosie's teddy bear.

"Jack!" Samantha called out and ran over to the teddy bear. It was almost completely covered by snow and as Samantha picked it up, she noticed that an eye was missing. She carefully brushed off the snow and then turned around when she heard Jack's footsteps.

"Is that Rosie's?" he asked and Samantha nodded.

"Meet Teddy. Rosie would never go anywhere without him," she said with a hint of a smile as she looked down at the teddy bear.

"So how did…Teddy…wind up out here, in opposite direction from where the car was parked? The clerk swears that Vince Lamar only went as far as to the rest room and Rosie apparently never even moved at all," Jack said.

"The only way for the teddy bear to end up way over here is if Rosie managed to escape while Vince Lamar was inside the men's room. Considering how scared she must've been, she probably dropped Teddy and just…kept on running," Samantha said and looked over at the deserted field across the road from the gas station. They were out in the middle of nowhere and looking for a little five-year old girl that could easily remain hidden if she wanted to.

"Well then it's a good thing this place got cameras," Jack said and they both looked up at the security camera facing the rest rooms and the parking lot.

"Let's just hope someone saw Rosie leave," Samantha said and squeezed the teddy bear as they headed inside the small convince store.

* * *

Samantha watched the surveillance tape in silence, desperately waiting for Rosie to show up. The camera had been positioned in the perfect angle facing both the rest rooms and the parking lot for security reasons, but so far nothing out of the ordinary had occurred on the tape.

"There!" Samantha suddenly blurted out and pointed at the screen. Jack leaned in to take a closer look at the little girl getting out of the car through the back door with her teddy bear clutched in her hand. The picture was slightly grainy but clear enough for them to make a positive identification; that girl was definitely Rosie Stevens.

"Looks like she's heading straight for the field. And here's where she drops the teddy bear," Jack said just as Rosie starts running away from the gas station, dropping her teddy bear in the midst of everything.

"She got away," Samantha mumbled and sighed in relief.

"Let's just hope she didn't go very far," Jack said and glanced at her before picking up his cell phone and pressing speed dial.

"Hey, Viv, it's me. Listen, I'm gonna need you to send some agents over here. It looks like Rosie got away from Vince Lamar and is most likely hiding somewhere around this area. Yeah, we'll remain on location until the others get here."

Jack disconnected the call and put away his cell phone. Samantha looked over at him, feeling slightly hesitant regarding what she was about to say.

"Uhm, shouldn't we get out there and start looking for her? The other agents won't be here for another hour or so and since we're already here…"

Samantha slowly trailed off, not quite sure how to finish the sentence with Jack looking at her like that.

"I don't see why not. The time is ticking and Rosie is still out there by herself…waiting for someone to find her," he said and Samantha smiled at him.

"I'm starting to think FBI-agent is the wrong career choice for you. Considering how good you are with words, you should have your own talk show or something," she said mischievously and got out of her chair.

"Well it's nice to know I have something to fall back on in case I want a change of scenery," Jack said as they exited the convince store.

"You ever think about it? Quitting, I mean," Samantha suddenly said when they stood outside the gas station, staring over at the endless snow covered field.

"Sure. Some days more often than others. After doing this job far as long as I have, it gets easier to look forward to quitting. And at the same you want to keep doing the job because you're always gonna be needed," Jack said.

"I've never _really_ thought about quitting. We've had some pretty tough cases but I just figured, that helpless feeling would get easier to live with in time. But now…I don't know. I guess the easy way would be to quit and just never look back, but every time I think about people like Rosie I realize that I don't have the heart to quit. Like you said, we're always gonna be needed…just like we are right now," Samantha said and looked at Jack, putting on a brave smile before they crossed the road together. When they stepped over in the untouched snow covering the field, Samantha glanced around hoping to spot Rosie's tracks somewhere in the snow but to no use. And in that moment she noticed that snowflakes were slowly falling down from the clouded sky, landing gently on her coat and practically melting on impact.

"I guess this means that the new fallen snow must've covered Rosie's footsteps. So, she could be halfway to wherever by now and we don't even know which direction she took," Samantha said and impatiently brushed off the snow from her coat.

"Look, I know this is really frustrating for you, but I need you to focus now, okay? We've been in worse situations before and it's worked out in the end," Jack said and Samantha exhaled slowly, knowing that Jack was right as usual.

"Right. Sorry. Okay, so, how about we split up? That way we cover twice as much ground and might have a better chance of finding her before it gets colder," she said.

"Good idea. You take west and I'll take east. Make sure to have your phone ready; it's starting to get dark," he said and Samantha smiled at him briefly before wandering over towards the left area of the field. She buried her hands until the very bottom of the coat pockets, clutching to her cell phone from time to time while walking further out into the field. She could still hear the sound of the highway from a distant but the gas station's neon signs were now out of sight. Samantha sighed heavily and continued walking through the snow, silently praying that Rosie wasn't far away now. That finally, after all these hours, Samantha would be able to look into Rosie's sweet little eyes and know that everything _had_ worked out in the end.

* * *

**To Be Continued. . . .**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **

Elena finished her cup of coffee while checking off the last number on the list before turning around in her chair.

"Get this; none of these phone numbers appears more than once or twice. Also, it looks like all of them belong to the same people who have been transferring money to Vince Lamar's bank account but they still don't have anything in common except Lamar himself. I'm starting to think your scam theory could be correct," she said and Vivian looked away from the computer screen.

"Now all we need is Vince Lamar's confession telling us the same and we're done," she said and sighed, leaning back in her chair for a moment.

"Still not any leads on his whereabouts?" Elena asked and Vivian shook her head.

"Not a single one. Seems like the guy has an annoyingly talent of just disappearing," she said and Elena couldn't refrain from smiling.

"I'm guessing Martin and Danny aren't too pleased to hear that they've been doing all that walking for nothing," she said.

"Not exactly but they did volunteer for the job," Vivian said with a mischievous smile and in that moment her phone started ringing for the millionth time that day. Her smile quickly faded as she picked up the receiver.

"Agent Johnson. Where? Okay. Yeah, bring him in."

Elena looked over at Vivian, almost not daring to speak at first. The conversation hadn't been hard to follow but she knew never to jump to conclusions. Vivian slowly put down the receiver and turned around facing Elena.

"A couple of local officers arrested Vince Lamar just outside of New Jersey thanks to a flat tire. They're on their way over with him right now," she said and Elena sighed, relieved that they had found Vince Lamar even if it was only half the victory.

"Thank God for flat tires," she said sarcastically and Vivian smiled at her.

"And for patrolling officers."

* * *

"God, I hate Christmas!" Samantha muttered to herself and looked down at her shoe that was dripping wet by now. After stepping in water twice and wandering through the cold snow for almost an hour, Samantha was officially in a bad mood. She took out her little flashlight and turned it on, definitely not liking the fact that it was almost pitch black outside. The thought of Rosie all alone in the darkness made Samantha almost become frantic again. She had heard reinforcements arriving a while ago, but she knew she didn't have time to wait for them to catch up. So she told herself to suck it up and kept on walking, determined to find Rosie.

As she kept walking, she couldn't stop thinking about Jack. After all of this was over she would make everything up to him again. She really didn't like the person she had become over the past few hours and considering how well Jack had handled it, Samantha figured that he deserved a little more than a simple thanks.

* * *

Vince Lamar looked the part of a typical criminal as Vivian and Danny entered the interrogation room. He obviously didn't care about his personal hygiene and apparently he hadn't slept in days. Vivian also discovered that his clothes reeked of alcohol, although he didn't appear to be drunk.

"Mr. Lamar, just to be clear, you do understand your rights and you've chosen not to have a lawyer present?" she asked and Vince Lamar gave her a nonchalant nod.

"That's right. It's not like I'll be needing one," he muttered. Vivian and Danny exchanged looks, both wondering if Lamar might be drunk after all.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. You see, Mr. Lamar, we've got eyewitnesses tying you to a kidnapping earlier today and we also got a security camera putting you in Hoboken with Rosie Stevens," Vivian said and Lamar looked confused.

"Who?"

"The five-year old girl you kidnapped!" Danny said and Lamar rolled his eyes.

"Now why would I kidnap some five-year old brat?" he said.

"That's what we'd like to know, Mr. Lamar. According to your impressive criminal record, you have a nasty habit of kidnapping little girls and doing God knows what to them before they drop off the face of the earth," Vivian said and showed Lamar a photograph of a little girl around Rosie's age. He stared at it for while in silence, as if trying to remember whom the girl was.

"What's she got to do with this other missing kid?" he asked.

"_This_ girl was kidnapped over five years ago from a neighborhood park…by you. I'm guessing you never cared enough to memorize her name either, huh?" Vivian said and slammed the photograph down on the table.

"Like I said to those other cops five years ago; I didn't snatch that girl! And I didn't kidnap no girl today either!" Lamar shouted and turned the photograph upside down.

"So what, you _just_ happened to be hanging around a park filled with little children? You know what type of people does that, right?" Danny said and leaned in closer, picking up the photograph again and nearly shoving it in Lamar's face.

"It wasn't like that! I'm not some kind of pervert!" Lamar shouted furiously.

"Then you're a kidnapper, Mr. Lamar. One way or the other you're guilty of a crime," Vivian said and Lamar sighed heavily, glaring at the two agents without speaking.

"Now, either you tell us why you kidnapped those girls or you might as well start dialing for your so-called lawyer right now," Vivian said and put down her cell phone on the table, glaring back at Vince Lamar.

"Guess it makes no difference now," Lamar whispered and looked down at the cell phone. "I'm never gonna get out of this anyway. Can't even do that right!"

"Start talking, Lamar, and save us the self-pity party," Danny said impatiently and Lamar looked up at him in silence for a moment.

"Look, I'm not some freakin' pedophile! Yeah, I took those girls but only so that they could come to a better home and get a better life!" Lamar shouted and Vivian gave Danny a quick glance. She had feeling she already knew the reason why Vince Lamar had kidnapped Rosie Stevens and that other girl.

"How so?" she asked.

"Do you know how many couples out there that are more than willing to pay _anything_ to get themselves a kid of their own? At some point, they don't even care where the kid is coming from and stops asking questions as long as you deliver," Vince Lamar started. "Those _really_ desperate couples turn to guys like me in the end, when they got no other options left. I promise them a little daughter or son that's young enough to be mold into an entire different person. The chances of them actually remembering anything from their past are very slim and they can instead enjoy a new luxurious life with their new family."

Vivian remained silent for a while, not quite sure how to respond. It was now crystal-clear what Vince Lamar was doing for a living and how he had obtained that amount of money so quickly.

"So how do you go about…_finding_ these children?" she asked reluctantly.

"The couple gives me a description of what they're looking for and I look around for a while before finding the closest match," Lamar explained.

"How long did it take before you decided that Rosie Stevens was the 'closest match'?" Danny asked and Lamar shrugged.

"Couple of hours, I think. She fits the typical description and I so figured, someone would want her soon enough."

"You're aware these are children, right? Not some kind of pet you keep around until the new owner comes along! What if there's no buyer for the child; what happens then? You throw them out like trash on street, take them back to their parents or just kill them?" Vivian said and at this point she was pissed off.

"Nothing like that. Besides, you can always find someone willing to be new parents," Lamar said and Vivian did her best not to smack the daylight out of him right then.

"What about the children's real parents, huh? Ever stop and think how it might affect them when you steal their daughter or son?" Danny asked and Vivian realized that Vince Lamar was lucky not to be sitting across the table from Samantha instead. If she could hear him talk about kidnapping Rosie as part of a business arrangement, she wouldn't hesitate about giving him a shiner or two.

"You really wanna know all this? I thought you guys were interested in this Rosie girl," Lamar said and leaned back in his chair.

"We are. So when's the last time you saw her?" Vivian asked.

"Right before I left that station in New Jersey. The girl was sleeping in the back seat so I figured; I could make a quick stop to the restroom without any trouble. But when I got back, she was gone," Lamar explained.

"Then why didn't you look for her? I mean, if you already got paid for delivering her then why risk it all by letting her get away?" Danny asked.

"Because I noticed those stupid security cameras and that damn noisy clerk. I decided I was gonna split with the money and start over in some other state," Lamar muttered and looked over at Rosie's picture.

"Oh, you still get to start over… only it will be behind bars. Now, tell us about the other children you've kidnapped," Vivian said and leaned in closer.

It was practically pitch black and almost dead silent when suddenly Samantha's cell phone started ringing. She switched hands with the flashlight and fumbled around in her coat pocket before picking up the phone.

* * *

"Spade. Hey, Viv! You did? God, you have no idea how happy I am to hear that! No, there's no sign of her yet but we'll keep looking. She should be around here somewhere; only problem is it's getting colder by the minute and she's not exactly dressed for the occasion. Yeah, I'll let you know. Okay, bye!"

Samantha disconnected the call and slowly put the phone back in her coat pocket. It _was_ getting colder by the minute and the fact that she could hardly feel her hands anymore was proof enough of that. She took a deep breath and continued walking through the snow, begging that it wouldn't start snowing again that night.

"Come on, Rosie, where are you?" Samantha whispered and listened after any sounds not coming from her or the other agents, but there was nothing indicating that Rosie was nearby. Samantha sighed heavily and kept telling herself that she _was_ going to find Rosie. Only problem was that time weren't on their side and with the temperature dropping so quickly time was running out sooner than expected.

"Hang on, Rosie. Hang on…" Samantha whispered with a trembling voice.

* * *

**To Be Continued. . . .**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** First of all, I wanna thank the dedicated readers who've enjoyed these latest chapters of **SC**! Reading your reviews does make writing fan fictions much more fun and it keeps you motivated at the same time. Few days ago I realized it's been a while since my last update and figured you deserved an extra long chapter this time. The story is slowly coming to an end after this chapter but don't worry, I have a special plan in mind for you all in the end. One I won't be revealing until the very last chapter is posted by the way. Until then, enjoy!

**Noticed earlier that my author's note in the previous chapter got cut off somehow, making the beginning seem a little strange. Sorry about that. Hopefully it won't happen again. And please excuse any possible grammar error you might find, I've given up double checking these days.**

_

* * *

_

**9 Hours Missing**

"Bingo!" Elena said with a smug look on her face and Vivian snapped out of her daze.

"You found something?" she asked and slowly stretched out her legs under the desk.

"I hope so. After checking all the clients' names alongside with the transferred money, I came up with something very interesting. This morning at 11:00 AM, Vince Lamar had 150 000 dollars wired to his account with courtesy of a Mr. Calvin Andrews. Seems that Mr. Andrews has been wiring money to Lamar's account frequently for the past month, probably hoping to get lucky and end up with a new baby," Elena explained and Vivian sighed.

"Looks like today could've been his lucky day if Rosie hadn't escaped," she said.

"Yeah. Any leads on those other children Lamar kidnapped?" Elena asked and Vivian showed her the enormous pile of case folders on the desk.

"Not enough. Lamar managed to get away with all kidnappings undetected until five years ago when he kidnapped that four-year old girl from the park. Since then he's been laying low right until today," Vivian said.

"Where he makes the mistake of kidnapping another girl at a crowded mall in the middle of the day. This guy sure doesn't plan ahead and yet he still manage to get away," Elena said annoyingly.

"Not anymore. He'll be going away for a long time. Let's just hope that's enough," Vivian said and looked over at Rosie's photo on the white board.

"What do you mean?" Elena asked.

"It doesn't matter how many years Vince Lamar spends in prison, if we can't find Rosie. Sam will always feel responsible for that little girl and if we don't find her, I just hope Lamar spending the rest of his life behind bars will be enough for Samantha. Some cases can haunt you for years despite the ending. This one might not end happily and I'm not sure how it will affect Samantha."

Elena looked at Vivian for a moment, and then turned her attention to the photo of Rosie. The picture of a smiling five-year old girl wasn't something they wanted to see on the white board. Children always made it more difficult and this time Samantha had taken the hardest blow. None of them knew how this case was going to turn out and Elena couldn't help but feel sorry for both Danielle Stevens and Samantha. Being torn between hope and despair was more than most people could handle, and Elena was also concerned at how the case might end.

"They'll find her," she said, although she sounded hesitant. Vivian looked at her in silence, not wanting to say otherwise. But they both knew that you could never say anything for sure in this line of work. All they could do was their job and hope for the best in the end. Although this time hoping wasn't enough for all of them.

* * *

Jack came to an abrupt halt when he suddenly noticed tire tracks in the snow. He had finally reach the end of the field and apparently found a narrow road leading all the way back to the highway. Judging from what he could see with the help of the flashlight, the tire tracks looked fresh as if a car had driven by after it stopped snowing. Then when he saw the tiny footprints next to the tire tracks, there was no use trying to deny what had happened. Jack suppressed a sigh and took out his cell phone, hesitating for a moment before finally pressing speed dial. After only a few seconds, he could hear Samantha's tired voice on the other end. At first he actually considered telling her a white lie but that would only make things worse.

"Hey, it's me. I think I know where Rosie might be," he said with a heavy heart. For a minute, Samantha didn't say anything. All Jack could hear was her slow breathing and that was proof enough she knew he didn't have any good news.

"I'll be there in a few minutes," she finally said and abruptly hung up before Jack had the chance to say anything else. He put away his cell phone and while the other agents started processing the scene, he decided to wait for Samantha. He kept is eyes firmly on the west side of the field while waiting to see the glow from her flashlight in the dark.

After a while he considered calling her cell again but just then he saw a light moving towards him and footsteps in the heavy snow. Eventually he could make out Samantha and once she appeared right in front of him, he could see the sadness in her eyes. Even though she did her best to maintain a straight face, giving the impression that she wasn't worried and looked over at the tire tracks.

"We think somebody came along and took her? Or rescued her?" she asked in a stern voice and then looked at Jack.

"Right now it's too early to tell either way. Hopefully to help her, but then again how often do people actually drive by here in the middle of nowhere during winter?" Jack said with an inquiring expression. Samantha took a few steps closer and noticed the tiny footprints, small enough to belong to a child.

"Somehow I don't think the Good Samaritan just 'happened' to be in the neighborhood and picked up Rosie on his way into the city," she said.

"I'm afraid you're right. Which means…we're heading back to New York City," Jack said with a heavy sigh. Samantha slowly turned around and looked at him.

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

* * *

**11 Hours Missing**

While pouring her first cup of coffee since breakfast, Samantha felt more exhausted than she thought was possible. She stepped out of the bullpen with a heavy sigh and took a seat in one of the hallway chairs. For a while she just stared blankly at the coffee, slowly inhaling the warm scent. Memories from the day were spinning around inside her head, nearly causing her to panic again. But this time she was too tired to really be affected and instead she took a swig of coffee. Then another and another, until the cup was finally empty. Samantha sighed again at the sight of the empty cup and leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes for a moment.

There wasn't much else she could do for the time being. Once she and Jack had arrived back at the office they were informed that no further progress had been made yet. They all assumed that the driver had taken the highway back to New York City since the tire tracks led in that direction, but remaining invisible in a city like New York wasn't a difficult task. Finding one specific person without a sketch or any other lead however, was close to impossible. Samantha didn't want to be surrounded by dozens of 'possible' leads and people crowding in the bullpen, so she decided that a break was well needed. Coffee was just icing on the cake; hopefully just what she also needed in order to remain alert until the case was over. Which apparently looked to be a while longer than anybody expected.

Samantha reluctantly opened her eyes after realizing she ironically was too awake to catch some sleep, especially in the uncomfortable hallway chair with people running back and forth constantly. She slowly got out of the chair and started walking down the hall without really knowing where she was heading. Agents were passing her by and the sound of phones ringing echoed inside her head. Before she knew it, Samantha was almost running through the hallway until she reached the stairwell. She leaned against the wall, breathing rapidly and looking around the empty stairwell. After a few minutes she started walking down the stairs until the sounds from the office were almost gone. Once she couldn't hear anything else besides her own rapid heartbeats she sank down on the nearest step and leaned her head carefully against the wall. Sudden images of Rosie flashed before her eyes and for a brief moment Samantha could see her cute little smile.

When staring mindlessly into space, Samantha went over the day's events in her mind. Her plan that morning was to stay at home doing relaxing things such as reading a book or just watch some lame TV-show without thinking of work. Shopping malls wasn't really her thing during the holidays but for some odd reason she changed her mind while reading the morning newspaper, and an hour later she was window shopping at the mall. It didn't take long before she decided to head back home again and mere minutes afterwards she bumped into Rosie Stevens and her mother. Because of an impulsive decision Samantha found herself in the middle of a kidnapping she hadn't been able to stop from happening. Had she waited ten more minutes before going to the mall, she would've never met Rosie. Samantha couldn't help but wish that she never had gone to the mall after all, even though it meant never to have met Rosie. Being consumed by a case was never a good thing but that part was something Samantha didn't fight anymore. Actually knowing the victim always complicated things and Rosie was just a child; an innocent pawn in this complete mess. Samantha inhaled sharply as she felt tears running down her cheeks. She had been so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed it at first and there was no use trying to hold them back now. After keeping everything bottled up inside for so long, Samantha finally let it all pour out at the same time. The tears weren't just meant for Rosie Stevens but all the other bad things that had happened over the past few years; things Samantha thought she had moved past. Now tears were running uncontrollably down her face and she was practically shaking, not able to calm herself down. Every time she closed her eyes she kept seeing images of Rosie's scared face and then herself as a little girl. Eventually the memories blended together and all Samantha could see was two scared little girls.

* * *

"Anybody seen Sam?" Jack asked as he entered the bullpen. Martin, Danny, Vivian and Elena all looked up at him simultaneously and stopped what they were doing.

"I think she went to get some coffee," Elena said hesitantly. Jack looked over at the coffee corner; no trace of Samantha.

"Right. So, how are we doing on finding possible suspects?" he asked and looked back at the team.

"Not well. Jack, it's like finding a needle in a haystack. Without any other leads I'm afraid we're stuck on square one," Vivian said and sighed.

"How about talking to Vince Lamar again? I've got a feeling he knows more than he's already told," Jack said and looked directly at Vivian. She gave him a discreet nod and followed him to the interrogation room where Vince Lamar was being held.

"You think Lamar contacted someone after Rosie got away?" Vivian asked when they were approaching the interrogation room.

"I know he did. Only question is who he contacted," Jack said and suddenly stopped to take a look at Vince Lamar through the interrogation window. The guy didn't seem nervous or scared at all; instead he was casually leaning back in the chair, staring up at the ceiling. Looking at him, Jack thought of everything Samantha had been through and Rosie who was still out there somewhere with a complete stranger. She was probably still scared and couldn't understand why she wasn't back with her mother already. Just like all those other little girls Vince Lamar had kidnapped; none of them had ever been found again. They were still living with their new families, unaware that they didn't belong. Jack wasn't going to let Rosie be another one of those children. Vince Lamar wasn't going to get that satisfaction this time.

"Mr. Lamar."

Jack stepped into the room with a stern look on his face, his eyes fixated on Vince Lamar. As he and Vivian took a seat at the table, Vince Lamar rolled his eyes.

"What now? I already told you people all I know!" he whined.

"See, I don't think you did. If you had, Rosie Stevens wouldn't still be missing. And I have a feeling this isn't news to you, Mr. Lamar," Jack said firmly.

"How the hell should I know if the kid is still missing or not? Like I told _Oprah_ over here, I lost the kid at the damn gas station! After that, I have no freakin' idea what happened to her!" Lamar yelled with a hand gesture towards Vivian. Jack quickly slammed his hand against the table, giving Lamar a deadly glare across the table.

"Insult one of my agents again and I'll make sure prison will be the _least_ of your worries! Now, you either tell me who's got Rosie Stevens or I'll gladly beat it out of you. The choice is yours; don't mess it up!" he whispered and Vince Lamar stared at him in silence, clearly contemplating his options. Vivian glanced at Jack, not pleased with the way he was acting but she decided to remain silent for the time being.

"I have nothing else to tell you people. So I think I'm just gonna relax here for a while until it's time to go downtown," Lamar suddenly said and leaned back in his chair again, giving Jack a smug smile. Vivian slowly got out of her chair, waiting for Jack to follow. He glared back at Vince Lamar, clearly wanting to beat the crap out of him. For a moment Vivian thought he might but in the end he got out of his chair and reluctantly exited the room.

"Jack, not that I don't agree with everything you said in there, but so far Lamar has been very cooperative with us _without_ his lawyer present. I'd like to keep it that way until the investigation is over but I'm pretty sure you just screwed any chance of that happening," Vivian said annoyingly while she and Jack were walking down the hallway towards the bullpen.

"Yeah, I know," Jack muttered and Vivian glared at him.

"I _know_ you do, which is why your little stunt in there was just plain dumb! Look, this case is affecting _all_ of us but that doesn't mean we'll threaten the suspect with bodily harm!" she hissed and Jack stopped dead in his tracks.

"Exactly what are you implying, Viv?" he asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

"I'm not implying anything; you and I both know what you did in there was a risky move that could come back and bite us in the ass when this case goes to trial. Besides, you of all people should know better than to let personal feelings interfere with an interrogation," Vivian said in a hushed voice.

"The guy has been lying to us from minute one! It's obvious that he knows who has Rosie this very moment and he still won't talk! What I did in there was not any different from what I usually do, Vivian. So don't stand here and lecture me on how to behave around suspects during an interrogation!" Jack said and abruptly walked through the bullpen to his office without taking notice of the others. Vivian sighed as she watched him walk away. Her intentions hadn't been to lecture him or patronize him in any way, but she couldn't always look the other way whenever Jack decided to play it rough with a suspect. But at the same time she convinced herself that this case was an exception because of Samantha's personal involvement. And Vivian didn't have the heart to put her through any more suffering.

* * *

**To Be Continued...**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **_And so the time has finally come; this is the last and final chapter for "Spade's Crusade" which is a few years overdue by now. But by God, how great it feels to finally have completed it! Actually, I did finish it once before sometime in 2007, around the same time when I posted Chapter 6 but then my old laptop crashed before I saved a back up of the story so I had to re-write the ending completely. The story is probably a bit shorter than I originally planned but by now all that matters is that it is COMPLETED! (However, seeing as how WaT has apparently ended for good and the fact that I stopped being a fan of the show several seasons ago, there will be no more WaT fan fiction from me in future. From now on I shall focus on my other fandoms.) Let the reading begin!  
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* * *

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**12 HOURS MISSING**

"How'd it go with Lamar?" Samantha asked as Jack and Vivian entered the bullpen after apparently finished with the questioning. She didn't like the expression on Jack's face but the words left her mouth before she could react.

"He lawyered up," Vivian said with a sideways glance at Jack. "So I'm afraid we won't be hearing anything from him for quite some time. His lawyer won't be here until morning."

"But by then it might be too late for Rosie," Samantha blurted out, instantly feeling a sense of panic at the thought of not finding the missing little girl.

Jack wanted to tell her that everything would work out in the end but knew that Samantha wouldn't believe him. After spending so many years searching for missing people, she was well aware of the odds. Just like Vivian had predicted, the moment had come for Jack to regret how he'd handled simply gave Samantha an apologetic look and walked over to his office. As the glass door silently closed behind him, Samantha looked to Vivian with desperation in her eyes.

"Isn't there anything we can do to make Lamar talk?" she hesitantly asked, already knowing the answer but unable to let it be unsaid.

"You know we can't, Sam," Vivian said with a tired sigh. "But considering the evidence we have against him on the other kidnappings and Rosie's, I'm confident he'll give it up in the morning once his lawyer has explained to him what happens to guys like him in prison."

As Vivian walked over to her desk, Samantha exchanged brief glances with the others across the bullpen. They all looked like it was over. Like Rosie was already lost to them. Samantha abruptly got out of her chair and walked out of the bullpen, her entire body slightly shaking from the day's ordeal.

She only had one thought in mind and that was to talk to the one person that could be of any use in finding Rosie. Lawyer or no lawyer, Vince Lamar was going to talk one way or the other.

Once Samantha had reached the interrogation room where Lamar was still be held, she spotted the FBI agent standing right outside the door. Somehow Samantha managed to keep a straight face despite everything and walked up to the agent with confident steps.

It didn't take much for the younger agent to grant Samantha access to Vince Lamar, unaware of Samantha's little white lie. As Samantha closed the door behind her, she took a minute to study Vince Lamar. At the moment he was resting his ahead against the table, apparently oblivious to another person in the room.

"What now?" he suddenly grunted, his voice muffled. Samantha snapped out of her daze and took a few steps closer to the table.

"Where's Rosie Stevens?" she asked, managing to maintain a steady voice. Lamar slowly lifted his head and looked right at her, a smirk appearing on his face.

"Sorry, honey, but I ain't talking. Like I told the other agents, I'm choosing to wait for my lawyer before saying anything else."

"Where's Rosie Stevens?" Samantha repeated, this time with more tension in her voice.

"Are you deaf?" Lamar snapped.

Samantha pulled out the chair opposite of Lamar and sat down, staring at him intensively for a while in complete silence. At first he gladly did the same right back, but eventually his patience got the better of him.

"What? You can't talk either?" he muttered.

"I came to see what kind of person would kidnap an innocent little girl and then leave her out in the freezing cold with absolutely no regards of human life," Samantha finally said with an eerily calm tone in her voice, maintaining eye contact with Lamar.

He opened his mouth to speak but quickly changed his mind. Samantha studied the man's face in continued silence, trying to come up with a way to make him talk.

"Look, all I need is a location. That's it. That's all I need to find this little girl, whom I doubt you want to see end up dead. You're not hurting the children, you're just giving them away to better homes, right?" she said, trying to appeal to his better side. That side of him that couldn't possibly want to be responsible for an innocent girl's death.

"I can't believe I'm saying this…," Lamar muttered, avoiding eye contact for a moment, clearly hesitant about continuing.

"Saying what?" Samantha carefully pressed on.

"Well, I can't be certain, considering she ran out on me at the gas station, but since you're asking me… I'm betting she's still out there; in the field. I just never cared enough to actually go look for her, I'd already gotten my money," Lamar said.

Samantha stared at him in silence once again, fighting the urge to slap him across the Stevens was just a way of getting money, with no regards of her life or her mother's grief. Then she suddenly remembered something; the tire tracks in the snow out on the field.

"Why would you assume she's out there?" Samantha blurted out. Lamar remained silent, avoiding eye contact once more which only confirmed Samantha's suspicions.

"Well, where else could've she gone? That field is right across the highway," he mumbled.

"True. But you see, I got a feeling you probably drove over there to go look for her," Samantha said, noticing that Lamar almost winced after she finished the sentence.

"Don't know what you talking about," he muttered, still avoiding eye contact.

"We saw tire tracks out in the snow earlier; figured it was some Good Samaritan, but it was you, wasn't it?" Samantha asked, although by now she was sure of the answer even if Lamar for reason refused to admit it. He looked up at her in silence and that was all the answer she needed. She abruptly got out of her chair and rushed to the door, exiting the room within seconds and ran for the elevators without a second thought. Rosie had to still be somewhere out on that field and time was running out fast.

* * *

**13 HOURS MISSING**

Samantha jumped out of her car the minute the engine had stopped. There were still some police officers spread out across the field, their flashlights bopping around in the otherwise complete darkness. She had called Jack on her cell phone while on her way over to New Jersey and decided to help out with the search for Rosie while the rest of the team were on their way over.

Walking swiftly out onto the snow covered field, Samantha turned on her flashlight and gave some of the other police offers silent nods as she too started to search for the missing little girl. Considering the amount of hours Rosie had been out in the field and the fact that it had been snowing on and off the entire day, Samantha got a knot in her stomach worrying about what they might find in the end. But at this point all she wanted was for poor Danielle Stevens to learn what had happened to her daughter, to get some closure either way.

After spending so many years searching for countless of missing people, Samantha knew the odds of finding any of them alive. Most of the cases ended with heartbreak and sorrow for families who lost somebody close to them; mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, brothers, sisters, friends, co-workers. Someone they were depending on one way or another in their life, but were taken from them way too soon because of a stranger's cruelty. That was often the case and Samantha had over the years felt herself becoming jaded by some cases.

She had also realized that it was becoming harder to actually enjoy life, knowing what was happening all across the country on a daily basis; children getting abducted from their beds at night, being snatched at a park in broad daylight or disappearing in the crowd at shopping malls. Every case of a missing person was awful in its own right but to Samantha it was the children that lingered with her the most afterwards. Little girls like Rosie Stevens who didn't get to truly experience life before having it ripped away, those were the cases that Samantha just couldn't quite get over.

Somewhere along the way it had gotten harder to move on with her life, with her work. Drop everything else and simply focus on the new case, avoiding thinking about the previous person their either lost or saved. Sadly, it was the ones they lost that were the most memorable even though Samantha only wanted to remember the ones with a happy ending. But happy endings weren't easy to come by when doing the job they did.

And she silently prayed for a happy ending as she wandered throw the cold snow, feeling it zippering through the hole in one of her boots. She was barely able to suppress a grunt, reminding herself to get that hole fixed or just simply buy a new pair of boots. Just as the thought had entered her mind, her feet slipped out from under her and she abruptly tumbled down the hillside before realizing what was happening.

The flashlight flew out of her hand and the ice cold snow found its way inside her coat and tangled her hair. It seemed like she was rolling down the longest hillside ever before she finally came to a halt, her hair and clothes a total mess. Laying there covered with snow in complete darkness, listening to the sound of her heart beating rapidly and breathing heavily, Samantha didn't know if she should cry or laugh at her unbelievably bad luck.

From the corner of her eye she spotted the distant flickering lights from the other police officers, considering calling out for help but quickly changed her mind. Aside from the fact that they needed continue searching for Rosie, Samantha did not want to be remembered as the FBI agent who took a dive down the hillside and looked like a scarecrow afterwards.

"Excellent work, Agent Spade, truly excellent!" she muttered while struggling to get up on her feet again. But in the midst of groaning, cursing and struggling, Samantha thought she saw something ahead. For a brief moment her heart stopped cold as she tried to process what it was she might be seeing.

Despite it being so dark, her eyes were getting used to it the longer she continued to stare. She knew it would be a waste of time to try and find her flashlight because it would be like finding a needle in a big, pitch black haystack. She carefully moved towards the shape lying in the snow, feeling her way with her hands. When she suddenly touched what felt like a shoe, she gasped.

"_Rosie_!" Samantha cried out as tears began running down her cheeks.

* * *

**3 HOURS LATER**

"You okay?"

"I will be."

"We did everything we could, Sam."  
"I know we did. We always do."

"Then what's what with the look?"  
"What look?"

"The look you get when we lose someone."

Samantha studied Danielle Stevens through the window as the young mother sat by Rosie's bedside, every now and then squeezing her hand to make sure it was all real. That they had actually managed to locate Rosie just in the nick of time, getting her to the hospital quickly enough for the doctors to save her life.

She had been in poor condition after lying in the snow for hours but somehow Samantha wasn't surprised that Rosie pulled through.

"You wanna know something horrible?" she asked Jack without taking her eyes off of Rosie in the hospital bed. "I was so _sure_ that we weren't going to find her. And then, as time wore on, I became even surer that we weren't going to find her _alive_."

"Well, you did, so wipe that look off your face," Jack said and a smile appeared on Samantha's face without realizing it herself. It was the first time she'd smiled for what had felt like a lifetime.

"_God_, I hate Christmas!" she muttered.

"And here I thought you'd actually start to enjoy it," Jack said with a smirk.

"How could I when something like this happens?"

"Just _because_ something like this happened. How about you try and remember _this_ Christmas as the one you saved little Rosie Stevens' life."

Samantha opened her mouth to protest in her true anti-Christmas type of way, but stopped herself when she took a good long look at Rosie's little face. There was a girl who was going to celebrate Christmas with her family again when so many other missing children weren't.

Samantha smiled once more, and this time the smile reached her eyes. For someone who had never taken a liking to seasonal holidays, especially not Christmas, she now realized she finally had at least one happy Christmas memory.

"The doctors said Rosie will be able to go home in a few days," she said. "Just in time to celebrate Christmas."

"The more reason to keep smiling," Jack said and Samantha turned to look at him, knowing this was the perfect moment to say something. To try and explain her behavior for the past thirteen hours but the look on Jack's face told her that an apology wasn't necessary.

She looked back at Rosie once more, letting out a sigh of relief knowing that they could walk away from this feeling proud of themselves. Knowing that even though maybe the next case wouldn't have a happy ending, Samantha could always think of little Rosie Stevens and remind herself why she kept doing the job.

"You know, I'm pretty sure this calls for celebration," she blurted out and turned to Jack.

"What did you have in mind?" he asked mischievously.  
"Get your mind out of the gutter," she said, unable to stop smiling. "I was thinking something more along the lines of Happy Hour."

"Good idea. I'll have Viv spread the word," Jack said and headed for the elevator with his cell phone, already hitting speed dial. Samantha slowly turned her attention back to Rosie again, suddenly realizing Danielle was staring back at her. The two women exchanged looks through the window in silence, both knowing what the other one was thinking in that moment.

Danielle Stevens had already expressed her gratitude to Samantha when arriving to the hospital before going to see Rosie, but Samantha wasn't all that comfortable with being seen as the hero who had saved Rosie from death. The little girl was a fighter and she was going to be just fine in the end.

"Merry Christmas, Rosie," Samantha whispered as she turned to walk away.

* * *

**~ THE END ~  
**


End file.
